Silvi Vrait (28 April 1951 in Kehra - 28 June 2013) was an Estonian singer and music teacher.

Biography

Vrait graduated from the Kehra Music School in 1968 on piano.

In 1974 she was graduated from the Tartu University on English philology and from 1994, she teaches English in a secondary school in Tallinn. Vrait has also coached vocalists at the Tallinn Georg Ots Music School.

Stage career

Silvi Vrait first appeared on stage in 1972 when she performed in a TV show, and from 1976 to 1983 she was active in theatre Vanemuine in Tartu.

For being a demanded and highly popular soloist in her native Estonia, she has toured and recorded with the likes of Suuk and Fix, both on cult status in Estonia. Her style varies from jazz to country and from rock to folk.

In late 1980s, Vrait was an important figure within the Estonian armless struggle for restoring the independence, the Singing Revolution, for at least two recordings, "Väikene rahvas, väikene maa" (Small Nation, Tiny Country) and "Ei ole üksi ükski maa" (No Land Is Alone). The latter was performed by a number different important musicians of the Estonian rock scene, such as Kare Kauks,Ivo Linna, Tõnis Mägi, Gunnar Graps and many more besides Silvi Vrait.

Vrait has been in quite a few musicals, such as Gypsy (lead), The King and I (Lady Thang), Chicago (Mama Morton) and The Sound of Music (Mother Abbess).

In 1994, Silvi Vrait was the representative of Estonia at the Eurovision Song Contest, held in Dublin that year. Her song Nagu merelaine ended up on 24th place, beating only Lithuania.

Death

Silvi Vrait was hospitalized with brain tumour in April 2013 and died peacefully in a hospital. She is survived by a son Silver Vrait.